Welcome Back, Cockroaches.....mi casa es su casa

I do really hate cockroaches and all of their little friends...the ants, crickets, black widows, etc. I don't like them anywhere near my home or surrounding fence line. The enemy. However, after today, I will welcome them back. Maybe not with open arms but I will no longer be using all means necessary to ban them from mi casa. Here goes the story, a story I must tell because no one is home for me to vent to and I have already cried my eyes out to the corporate office for the pest control company. Maybe I overreacted, you decide, but I am still one angry mama bear.

I have always had my home sprayed but after Tate was diagnosed with autism, I became aware of the dangers of pesticides and chemicals so I switched to an earth friendly company. I made sure that they sprayed only on the fence line or house line, no where near toys, fruit trees or the garden. They assured me that they would never spray in that area. So, I went with it. Then, a cute little college bound boy came soliciting his bug spray company and in pity , I decided to go with him. He assured me that they would never spray near my garden, trees or heavy traffic areas. I felt OK with this as we have black widows and I don't want them sharing my backyard picnic bench with me or my children. I know I should probably do away with the pest control all together, but I thought I was getting sprayed responsibly. Today I realized that I made a mistake.

I came home from my 1st graders class party and saw the bug spray truck outside. First, I noticed that my entire driveway and walkway was completely hosed down, soaking wet. My front door, the handle, the windows, the stroller next to the door. All of it, drench. I went in, taking off my offending shoes and looked in horror at my back yard porch. All drenched. Kids shoes, bikes, picnic bench, toys, etc. Nothing left untouched. Then, I thought in horror....my garden. Please, don't be in the garden! He was headed out back to his truck. I ran to him and asked if he was in the garden.

"Oh, no mam. I knew that looked like food you would eat so I only sprayed around it and on the soil by the plants. I only sprayed the bottoms of the fruit trees, not the leaves also."

My heart sank. I went in, shocked. I looked in the back. My soil was soaking. My plants, misted. My fruit trees, wet with chemicals.

Call to the company. I want my service cancelled. I explained why. He informed me that I couldn't get out of my contract. I was still under control at this time. I asked for a supervisor. He said he would have one call me.

Heather from corporate called and said she talked to "Daryl" the bug man and repeated what Daryl had told me. She said that the chemicals do not hurt humans. Here is where I came unglued. Here is where I lost it altogether.

SAFE! Are you kidding me? Are you going to take a drink of it or let your children sit in a stroller drenched in it? Do you want to eat lettuce from the garden that you planted months ago and nurtured daily so your children can eat food that has not been sprayed with bug spray only to get that hard work stolen from you? Do you understand... Heather.....that a little bug spray goes along way and that for children with autism it is even worse? Do you understand that I have paid thousands of dollars in bio medical treatments to get these pesticides out of Tate's body and paid $600 for special orthopedic shoe inserts that were just hosed down with chemicals!

I was a nut case at this point. I could barely talk. Tears streaming down my face. How could she understand. How could she understand that everyday I am fighting a battle to remove autism from my child's life and in this one small instance of a routine pest control spray she just knocked us back one giant leap to recovery. I wanted her to know that what the world deems as "SAFE" is a joke. That there are 1 in 100 , at least with autism and that it is because we are making that happen. I wanted her to tell her employees that spraying our food, our toys , our strollers is NOT ok.

She was sorry. I asked again....I want my service canceled. She reminded me that I would have to deal with bugs. I told her, ma'am....I will take my cockroaches if that means I will have clean lettuce to eat.

Welcome back little pesky friends. Until I find a natural solution to rid you off my premises, enjoy your stay. It may be short. Please stay out of my house, a nice warm bush will be sufficient.